Norway 1673 2 ducats Fr-11b
This specimen was lot 1221 in Stack's Bowers sale of the L. E. Bruun Collection (Copenhagen, September 2024), where it sold for €102,000 (about US$113,037 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"Nearly Uncirculated 2 Ducats Featuring a Trumpeting Elephant, NORWAY. 2 Ducats, 1673. Christiania Mint. Christian V. NGC AU-58. Mintmaster: Frederik Grüner. Among the RAREST Norwegian coins, this Double Ducat offers an extremely popular type in a beautiful state of preservation. Soft sunny luster coats the surfaces, with generally appealing details unimpinged by excess wear. Circulation friction is limited to the highest design elements and is of minimal influence to the appearance. The fields are largely clean as well, presenting a mostly complete luster that is only seldom broken. A total of three examples of this type are known, with two being in private collections. As such, a most desirable opportunity to acquire a premium piece for any advanced collector.
Before entering the Benzon, the Bech and the Bruun collections this gorgeous piece was owned by an official at the National Bank of Denmark, Ove Theodor Thomsen (1803-1879). Ex: Frederik Christian Bech Collection (Sagførernes Auktioner, Copenhagen 12/1906) Lot # 669. Ex: Alfred Benzon Collection (Copenhagen - 5/1887) Lot # 1574. Ex: Ove Theodor Thomsen Collection (Copenhagen 10/1880) Lot # 3490."
This is one of a series of double and triple ducats issued to honor the king's Order of the Elephant, an order of chivalry still in existence. The badge of the order is on the reverse.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 6.98 g, 0.0.979 fine gold, 24 mm diameter, this specimen 6.91 g.
Catalog reference: Fr-11b; KM-121; Hede-11; Sieg-70; NMD-12; Schou-5; Bruun-10149.
- Cuhaj, George S., and Thomas Michael, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1601-1700, 6th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2014.
- Friedberg, Arthur L. and Ira S. Friedberg, Gold Coins of the World, From Ancient Times to the Present, 9th ed., Clifton, NJ: Coin and Currency Institute, 2017.
- Siegs Møntcatalog 2016: Danmark med Omrader, 48 ed., Frederikssund, Siegs Forlag ApS, 2015.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio, Jeremy Bostwick and Henrik Holt Christensen, The L. E. Bruun Collection - A Corpus of Scandinavian Monetary History Part I, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers Galleries, Inc., 2024.
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